Late Nights
by CourtneyEllen
Summary: Week 1: "I'll Protect You"


Harry shivered in bed, nightmares of Sirius Black having plagued him for the last couple of nights. Every night he woke up in cold sweat and laid in bed hoping to go back to sleep to no avail. Nightmares were hard to recover from for Harry, so he laid in bed alone attempting to gather his thoughts. He didn't want to wake his sleeping roommates, or at least who he thought was sleeping.

Thursday had been the fourth night in a row that Harry sat straight in bed, the feeling of Black's fingers around his neck and his insane black eyes swirling scorched into his mind. He reached for his glasses and jumped when his vision focused on a figure by his bed.

"Bloody hell Seamus!" Harry hissed, taking in the figure of the Irish man. He was standing in his red plaid pajamas, shifting worriedly at the side of the bed.

"You alright 'arry?" Seamus whispered, tangling his fingers into his sleep shirt. Harry stared at the other Gryffindor in confusion. In the three years that they have been roommates, Harry had never been particularly close to Seamus. He was closer to Neville and Ron then Dean and Seamus. So to have the Irish boy show concern for him was a bit starling. Even Ron didn't seem to concern with Harry's nightmares.

"Brilliant," he tried to deflect his fear, sitting up in the bed and running his hand along his sweaty neck. He flinched at the feel of fingers on his neck and tried to shake it off without Seamus noticing.

"You sure?" Harry attempted to nod, but for some reason he started to shake his head. No, he wasn't fine. Harry flinched when weight settled on his bed and tried to hide his face from Seamus.

"It's okay to be scared 'arry," the other boy whispered, tentatively placing his arm around Harry's shoulders and pulling him closer. Harry resisted at first, but Seamus was persistent. Before too long Harry let himself be comforted by Seamus, burying his face into the other Gryffindor's side.

Seamus rubbed Harry's shoulder reassuringly and waited for the brunet to get himself under control. He had watched Harry for a while and knew that the boy hated being pressed to talk about things and would sacrifice his needs for others. After a few minutes, Harry finally pulled his face from Seamus' side, but continued to lean up against him.

"Thanks Seamus," Harry mumbled, for once not over thinking his current situation. Had it been any other night or even during the day, Harry would be over thinking Seamus' warmth or how safe he felt under his arm. Growing up with the Dursleys had not really opened Harry to affection and to have it given to him so freely through Seamus was a bit dizzying for Harry.

"Anytime 'arry," Seamus mumbled back, staring ahead at their feet, not wanting to scare Harry away. Seamus had been open with his sexuality since last year and had to admit that Harry was rather attractive, especially with his unruly hair and doe-like eyes. Though it had nothing to do with Seamus wanting to comfort him, the Irish boy could not deny that his dream were coming true with Harry tucked under his arm. But this wasn't about him. He couldn't be selfish and take advantage of Harry.

"Wanna talk about it?" Harry bit his lip, thinking about it. Did he really wanna share his nightmares with Seamus? Nightmares that he didn't even tell Hermione about? Seamus continued to rub Harry's shoulder soothingly, his calming presence conveying to Harry that he would not push him like Hermione would. Seamus was giving him a chance to choose if he wanted to share or not.

"It's just, um, the," Harry stumbled over his words, burying his face in Seamus' side in frustration, "Sirius Black thing," he continued, his voice muffled by Seamus' shirt, but the other boy heard him all the same.

"What about 'im?" Seamus prodded cautiously, not wanting to make Harry close in on himself.

"Well, in the dream, he-um, he finds me and his hands," Harry mumbles, his fingers trembling against his sides. Seamus carefully reaches over and steadies his hands. Harry glances up at Seamus, shocked by how close their faces were together. Seamus resisted the urge to press his lips to Harry's perfect looking pink ones and let his thumb stroke over his trembling fingers.

"What did he do 'arry?" Seamus was curious now, wanting to know what was tormenting Harry so much that he would have constant nightmares each night.

"He tried to choke me… and his eyes were swirling and it was like he was enjoying himself," Harry finished, leaning closer to Seamus, as he tried to stop the trembling in his body. Seamus, shocked by Harry's honesty. He pulled him closer and let his hand move from his shoulder to his side, trying to soothe him.

"It's okay 'arry, I got you," Seamus whispered, tilting towards Harry and letting the smaller boy bury himself into his chest. Seamus slowly laid down, his hands stroking Harry's back and through his hair. Harry let himself be held, something in him needing to just be held. Be held and not have to worry about anything but Seamus' warmth and the soothing feel of his hands on his body.

"Don't worry 'arry, I'll protect you," Seamus promised, letting his chapped lips press into the inky hair of Harry Potter. The smaller Gryffindor curled closer to Seamus and slowly fell asleep. For the first time, in a long time, Harry fell asleep feeling ultimately safe. Seamus followed not long after, glad that he got the courage to comfort Harry. Hopefully, there would be no more nightmares in the nights to come.

* * *

Happy New Year's guys! I decided that I wanted to do a 'fic a week' challenge totaling 52 one shots for 2019! So each Friday, come back and see what I have for you! They will all include Harry and they will be male x male relationships! Though there is a random choice between Seamus, Draco, Theodore, Neville, Dean, Cedric, Bill, Charlie, Ron, Percy, Blaise, Fred, George, Viktor, Adrian, Marcus, and Oliver! There will be a different prompt each week!

I hope you guys enjoy this and maybe even take up the challenge yourselves! Let me know if you do! Have an amazing day! - Courtney xox


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